Prisoners should be banned from watching television unless they have earned the right through good behaviour, the Tories said today.

That was one of the detailed ideas in the 112-page "green paper", Prisons with a Purpose, published by the Conservative leader, David Cameron.

Here is a summary of the proposals:

Community sentences

Community sentences would be made "tough and effective" by improving compliance, making them more visible and introducing new sanctions for breaches, including benefit withdrawal for those who did not attend.

Offenders would have to wear a "recognisable, high-visibility set of overalls". Failing to wear them would be a breach of the sentence.

Work in prisons

Social enterprises would be encouraged to expand prison industries. Prisoners currently earn as little as £4 a week. They would be paid more by employers, but in return for doing proper work.

Television in prisons

Currently in-cell televisions are considered "standard" privileges available to all new inmates. Instead, TV would become a reward for good behaviour, and eventually inmates would have to pay for their service through the proceeds of their work in custody.

"Prisoners who want to spend time in their cells watching television will need to earn the privilege, and those that don't work will not have a television to watch."

Reparations

Offenders would have to compensate victims through contributions to a victims' fund. Those in jail would have to contribute to the fund from the money earned while inside (under legislation passed by the last Conservative government but never implemented by Labour.)

More jails

Around 30 old prisons would be sold off and replaced with smaller, local prisons, instead of the giant "titan" prisons proposed by the government. The programme would take prison capacity to over 100,000 – 5,000 more than proposed by Labour – "significantly reducing overcrowding and formally ending it by 2016".

Prison reform

Public-sector prisons would become "independent, fee-earning prison and rehabilitation trusts", responsible for offenders after they were released as well as in prison, run by a single governor. Governors would have to consider their responsibility to the public at large.

Prison governors would initially be appointed by the justice secretary. But the Tories would consult on whether the appointments could be made by locally elected crime commissioners, who would also be responsible for the administration of community sentences and local probation services, as well as the police.

Prison and rehabilitation trusts would be given the task of trying to ensure that prisoners did not reoffend within two years. They would be paid a premium for prisoners who did not reoffend, and just a basic payment for prisoners who did. Prisoners judged "harder to help" would attract higher pay.

Rehabilitation

The goal would be to cut the two-year reconviction rate from 65% to 52% over five years.

Improving rehabilitation would cut the costs of reconvicting and accommodating offenders. The Tories believe that this process could eventually release £259m a year, or £2,500 for every prisoner discharged, and that this could be spent on better rehabilitation services.

Sentencing

"We will introduce honesty in sentencing so courts set a minimum and a maximum period, with no possibility of parole until the minimum has been served."

"Min-max sentencing" would supposedly lead to clearer sentencing, and would allow more judicial discretion. Prisoners would have to earn the right to early release.